the good news the day before yesterday, yesterday and today

due to technical difficulties I didn't get the good news out for a few days, but I haven't fallen off the wagon I promise!

So here's the latest:

• found an acupuncturist (super good news)
• cooked till I couldn't cook anymore, ate good food with good company and had good conversation
• found a skirt for the Big 12 Comissioner's Dinner next friday on sale; enabling me to be the good wife with a cute outfit (some would say that one leads to the other)

Lots of good news here....

Good news item day 2

You know when you have something to mail that ends up riding around with you for much longer it should? Well today I somehow ended up parked right in front of a shipping store, totally unplanned! So keep your eyes on your mailbox, maybe you’ll have some good news soon.

project good news day 1

the good news for today is that I took on two extra kids to give a friend of mine some relief and we ran errands without any major crisis's, mishaps or me loosing my cool. Considering that I am a one kid kinda gal and didn't get a lot of sleep last night, this is pretty remarkable. What's your good news?

the good news

it seems like the only way we can get some good news lately is to answer the religious solicitors at the front door who want to "share the good news", well today I am going to try and change that.
Recently a friend of mine stated that she was 'down like the economy' and honestly I think all of us at some time could agree with her, so today while I was in the shower (my little think tank) I thought that maybe I could start sharing a little good news for each day until the end of the year. This little blog had gotten pretty dusty and needed some attention so what better venue to challenge myself to making one good news statement a day...you're more than welcome to join in...put yourself up to the challenge!

I just got validated...

and it wasn't a stamp on my parking ticket. Oprah did it. There I said it, Oprah. I know now I am one amongst many who can say Oprah changed my life, well the truth is she didn't, she just facilitated it. How you ask, well I just watched this: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090311-tows-mom-truth
and I ask, why did it take Oprah to break this out in the open?

Why is it that we as moms think we need to keep all these dirty little secrets about conceiving, childbirth, mommyhood and all the rest? For example, I had an emergency c-section, yeah yeah I know all the haters out there that will tell me I could have tried all my options, but really when it comes down to it my little guy was brought into this world healthy so who cares how he got here? Well part 2 of this is that I didn't do so hot in the c-section, to put it frankly I freaked out and they gave me good drugs and I don't remember naming my sweet boy. Yeah it sucks, but I'm done feeling bad about that, in fact if that's the worse thing I do as a parent I'm golden. So back to the super secret mommy society, shortly after having my sweet boy a friend had a scheduled c-section (go ahead all you haters, have an opinion on this too) because her baby was breach and her amniotic fluid was low. So she asked me what to expect, I was painfully candid: is sucked. Mind you this is a woman who has successfully brought two kids into the world "naturally", I honestly didn't think I could scare her. In steps a friend whom I love very much...but she kinda tested that at this moment...she tried to censor.

Why I ask, do we feel compelled to censor motherhood. Its a dirty job, the pay is awful, there's poor communication in the workplace, no sick days, no vacation (barring a hospital stay), there's no consistency and most of all we moms still feel inadequate most of the time.

This inadequacy part is what confuses me as well. In all honesty I think we're heroic, infinitely wonderful and minor miracle workers. So here's the deal, don't ask me how mommyhood is if you don't want the truth, because I will tell you. I let my boy watch dvr'd shows so I can shower, I consent when I just can't take it anymore, I don't wash his hands before he eats every time, the list goes on. However, I am leading a revolution right here in my little world, mommyhood ain't easy and I won't tell you it is...but I wouldn't trade it for the world, cause quite frankly I think I'm pretty darn good at it and so should you.

stuck in a middle that I can't get out of

Sorry U2, I had to rip you off for a moment.
Here goes, we leave The Republic (which now threatens secession, per the governor but that's a whole 'nother post) and head to the 'I' state in the middle to see the inlaws for Easter. Yay us, a 12 hour trip with a 2.5 year old. This was my first venture through the middle states of O, K, N and I'm still a little traumatized. So here's the deal, I'm a west coast girl and honestly I think I've lived in areas with pretty good looking people (there's always that exception) some more than others but I didn't feel surrounded by ugly. This I've found is not true everywhere. While driving through K (my apologies to the residents of the Wheat/Sunflower/Jayhawk State) I was disappointed, I mean this is "nations heartland" why is it so ugly? And further more, there seems to be an abundance of not-so-pretty people. What happened?

This leads to a question, are we truly a product of our surroundings? I had a friend who once said she couldn't live in the Golden State because "she wasn't pretty enough" and she was no ugly girl mind you. But I kind of agreed with her and more than once made the joke that the husband and I snuck under the beauty radar when we landed in America's Finest City.

But back to my question, so if your born in a not so pretty part of this country are you doomed? I want to think not, Hollywood seems to be a melting pot of folks from all over this place. Really I guess what I wonder, is it that are we that easily effected by our surroundings that we start to look different when we move beyond our 'native place'? And even more do we act different? Do we so easily loose who we are/were? (I think these questions weigh on me more that I have a little person and I don't love The Republic I live in and I want to offer him a broad world view, which is hard to do here.) Can we keep the thing that makes who we are even if we are geographically transient?

Who knows, maybe change is good... (but for the time being I'm still resisting)

overheard

the husband, boy and I are in the capital city of okie (dokie) as I have mentioned before this part of the world is like nothing I've ever experienced before and the trend continues. Today the boy and I were in a store and the two cashiers were having a conversation about restaurants, here goes:
1 "red lobster! I love that place, it has the best food, I love the shrimp"
2 "I don't eat shrimp"
1 "do you eat fish?"
2 "I only eat fish if its fried and dipped in ketchup"
(this is where I can no longer stifle a giggle/borderline snort)
1 "this lady is laughing at you"
me "not laughing, its just that I'm a west coast girl (my new title for myself in an effort to explain why I don't get it most of the time) and we don't fry fish"
2 "oh! so you don't like fried catfish?"
me (this is where I really pushed the limit) "I've heard that catfish is only good if its breaded, fried and dipped, to me if it has to be breaded, fried and dipped then it must not be all that good"
1 & 2 blank stares and silence

The best thing for me to do then was show myself the door, as I had once again proved that 1. I don't get it and 2. that I am a snotty west coast girl. This has led me to wonder all day why is it that geography can cause us to not work as "one nation under god". Why don't we get how things work in each part of this country and does not getting it makes us bad? I am struggling to convey my thoughts, but as the week has continued I find myself feeling more and more like I am surrounded by hicks...something I really hate to admit that I even think. I mean these are humans just like me who have all the same ingredients that I have, but for some reason I cannot relate to them and find myself thinking I am better than them. ick, I don't want to be that person. So I ask, how does one shift their thinking to align with geography? If I figure it out I'll let you know.

-your stuck up west coast girl

life in the world of women...

not quite sure where to start with this post but here goes...when I was in college I had a great array of girl friends and it seemed they came from every walk of life. As a little social experiment (I didn't realize it was that until a few years ago) I had all of them meet up and have dinner together. It was a good time and a little interesting to see all of them interact, some mingled and some stuck with who they knew.
Fast forward to the present, I am once again in new place and having to 'start over' with friends, thus begins a new social experiment.
One thing I have noticed is that since my post college 'adult' life its harder to find a group of girl friends that all work well together. Who knew? I am finding this out in the new place as I make new friends that its hard to break into a group of already established friends so you end up with 'fragmented' friendships that potentially could never work together.

Wow and you thought junior high was hard, this grown up thing is a whole 'nother story.

-your wishing for a few more moments of simple friendships girl

expectations

this was our last weekend with the husband not being owned by college basketball so we had a great plan to make the best of it...this was our plan for today:

• meet friends at a local a 'public market extravaganza'
• check out the local botanical gardens that are rumored to be in full bloom

what we did

• woke up to a cold windy day
• battled allergies and headaches
• went to the 'public market extravaganza' which was a total bust
• took refuge at a mall that is showing all the pain of a poor economy

the good news is that we still have tomorrow, however I am now a little bit more realistic about my expectations and just hope for a nice afternoon nap

note to self: don't expect too much and you won't be disapointed

fb for mommies

so I am now an offical facebook addict, I might need rehab in malibu someday.

Last night I was thinking of all the status items I could have written for the day and decided that there should be fb for mommies, I honestly don't think the general public wants to know the tests and triumphs of our days but I feel like we need an outlet. So I am going to list some status goodies for my past few days, feel free to add a few of your own.

>a girl with an opinion wonders if she will ever get the priviledge of using the bathroom alone again
>a girl with an opinion wonders if her two year old could just stop and listen when she calls his name, just once
>a girl with an opinion wonders if she should stop being scared of potty training
>a girl with an opinion would love a day all to herself, doing nothing for anyone, nothing at all

I'll let you know if I start a revolution.

make new friends but keep the old

I have decided that there are few things better than having old friends come see you at your new place. Its been a little rough for us to make this home with all our familiar faces so far away, this was solved for us for a few days with a visit from some old friends.

I feel like I can't thank them enough for coming to us.

So note to self, when someone leaves the familiar and needs to see the faces of those who mean so much to them, go to them. Don't ask them to come to you. Let them share their new place with you and show you how they've tried to make it home, most of all their house will feel like a home with just your presence.

All you old friends out there, my hat's off to you. <3

liking not feeling like the minority

so there has been some fall out from my previously posted item regarding linking without thinking...ironically enough not more than a few days later I read this in Dear Abby. I admit it made me feel a teensy bit better. Read on.

February 10, 2009
DEAR ABBY: I am a private person by nature and avoid doing a lot of posting on the Internet because of it. My problem is a friend I'll call "Maria," who constantly posts pictures of our outings with friends on her Web site for everyone to see. The photos themselves are not embarrassing, I just prefer not having my face plastered all over the Internet. Most recently, Maria posted photographs from my wedding without asking me, and it really bothered me. I understand that she is an outgoing person who enjoys sharing details of her life, but I feel like my privacy has been invaded. I am not the only person in our group that feels this way. How do we ask her to stop posting these images without offending her? -- OVEREXPOSED IN SAN FRANCISCO

DEAR OVEREXPOSED: You do it by telling Maria -- with a smile -- that posting your pictures on her Web site makes you uncomfortable and to please stop it. If you don't have the courage to confront her one-on-one, then do it as a group. Should Marie "forget" and continue posting pictures you'd rather not appear online, remember to duck when she whips out her camera.

I do realize that this does not justify the assumption on my part in scolding a linking without thinking person, but it does make me glad to know I'm not the only person out there who doesn't want their personal business out there all over (hence the family blog being private, etc).

I've stepped off my soapbox, but didn't fall.

humor, I love it

upsetting the apple cart

so I vented my frustration on an individual on how I don't like poor blog etiquette. Linking without thinking. What is that you ask? It's this ugly thing that has become commonplace since the 'blog explosion'. You create a blog, it asks if you want to link anyone, there are blogs you visit so you think, I should link them. Then you notice that your list is short compared to others you have seen, or you notice how easy it is to go back to those blogs once you link them or you just want to share with everyone all the people you know. Everyone has their own reason. I think the whole practice is kind of silly, and if you have linked without asking the blog owner its one of the seven deadly sins in my little world (the others are: printing pictures from blogs w/out asking and not citing a blog when you quote it).

So I saw this dandy little blog linked on a blog of an 'offender' and I called them out. I was wrong to call them out because I assumed that they knew who the owner of this dandy little blog was. It was the wrong thing to do, assume that is. Let this be my public apology.

The whole point here is this: think before you link. Ask the owner if it's all good. Its not a popularity contest here, no single person will win an award for the most links (at least I don't think there is an award, maybe I'm missing out).

In the meantime, blog on.

fb: I did it

since moving to the great republic I have been influenced to join now what I call the facebook revolution...I resisted and came up with a good reason why every time. Then I caved. So here's what I like and don't like about fb.

• people who think you should 'friend' them because they know you by proxy
• people who have something like 800 friends, really? You may know a lot of people, but do you really have that many friends?
• people who think you should 'friend' you because you once knew them 10-15 or 20 years ago, but haven't talked to them since and they wouldn't know you from any kid on the street
• love this...seeing peeps from high school, this has really provided some insight and humor
• and this, my stalking career has gotten a real boost!

What this all boils down to is this...I think I might be a neglectful parent to like do not like. Sorry.

what you probably don't like: slacker blogging

my apologies my few and faithful readers, 2009 has put me in a funk and I can't seem to find anything nice to say and as a wise person once said "if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say it at all".

So here are a few things that have been on my docket of the like/don't like world:

• the local school district was not going to show the inauguration at school because they 'didn't want to take away from critical teaching time...they have since given in (maybe it was the virtual swift kick to the head I gave them) and decided that the inauguration of our country's president is really something they can work into their lesson plans
• January 20, 2009. enough said.
• my allergies are off the charts, this part of the world is not nice to the girl with an opinion (it doesn't help that the temperature here can go from 70-20 degrees in a week)
• I have started to make some mommy friends
• Trader Joe's is still over 500 miles away....grrrr

I think this list is pitiful as a whole, I just may have lost my one and only reader.

Since I have little to humor or entertain, how about a shout out from all of you?

I don't remember asking for a cold for christmas...

my apologies for whining the day after christmas, I know I am supposed to be basking in the glow of lots of good gifts from my loved ones; but I distinctly do NOT remember asking for a cold for christmas.

Hope you all had a merry (sniff) christmas!

what I love: good gift givers

there are few things that make me happier when I recieve a gift and hear the giver say "I go this for you because it made me think of you".

With that being said, I was delighted to get these in the mail. Thank you my sweet-thoughtful-gift-giving-friend. Merry Christmas to you!

signs of the season

there are few things I like more than all the cooking, baking and wrapping that happens at this time of the year. Here's some goodies one of my elves and I whipped up a few days ago.

(thanks martha for your fabulous sugar cookie recipe that never fails me)

my gift to you, my loyal (and few) readers

tell me what you like or don't like about this crazy season we call the 'holidays'...send me your thoughts and all via email and you'll be the guest post-er for this week. likedonotlike(at)gmail(dot)com

btw: I thought holiday meant down time, a little bit of paradise, sleeping in, no do-to list, etc...not crazy mall traffic, the post office (ugh), dragging my little one through it all and most of all trying to keep his presents wrapped until christmas morning!